


Before The Rain

by obsidian_irises



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Equalists (Avatar), Non-Canon Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:47:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29887530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obsidian_irises/pseuds/obsidian_irises
Summary: Asami Sato has been shielded from the outside world ever since Hiroshi lost his wife. Amidst the backdrop of a brewing Equalist Revolution, how will Asami fare with her first college experiences?This mini series takes place before the events of Season 1 of LOK and serves as a prelude to my November Rain series featuring Irosami (can be read before, after, or as a standalone piece). This is an alternate universe but weaves in elements of canon.
Relationships: Iroh II/Asami Sato, Mako/Asami Sato
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	1. An Introduction to Campus

Asami had never been to a new student orientation before, but she was thrilled to be a part of the program at the University of the United Republic of Nations, affectionately known by its students as “The Academy.”

At seventeen years old, she had rarely been away from home or on her own. Hiroshi practically shielded Asami from the world after the death of his wife, Yasuko, when Asami was only six. That meant personal engineering lessons from her genius father and rigorous private tutors who had to go through intense background and security checks before they were allowed to instruct Republic City’s most guarded child. 

It was a miracle that her father was allowing her to attend college away from home. If you could count downtown Republic City, which was barely an hour away from the Sato Estate, “away from home.” 

That, and the fact that Asami was a year ahead of her peers and gained early admittance to the United Republic of Nations’ most prestigious university must have convinced her father to let her go. She suspected her father’s closest Board members, many of whom had seen Asami grow up, may have also persuaded him. 

She had overheard Liao, her father’s chief of staff, gently suggest the other night, “Sato, your daughter certainly carries your genius tendencies, but any drop of Yasuko’s social capabilities will dry up if you keep her locked away from society. A business person must also be able to get along with others.”

Get along with others? Asami was perfectly sweet to all the butlers, maids, and servants that handled the day-to-day affairs at the Sato Estate. She could hold her own with any Future Industries investor or design engineers right down to the factory workers, some of whom she felt were her uncles. 

But people her age - that was probably a department she missed out on.

Asami had expected a more tearful goodbye from her father, but lately, the man seemed to be quite occupied with a personal project. Sometimes, Asami was unaware of where he had disappeared to after he came home on the days that he worked out of the main headquarters and not in his personal office. He would disappear for hours at a time. The Sato Estate was quite large, but Asami knew the property inside and out. Perhaps her father was coping with her fleeing the nest in his own way. 

Taking a deep breath, Asami checked her wristwatch and glanced again at the orientation schedule. Hiroshi and Asami had said their goodbyes at the Sato Estate as her father expressed regret that he couldn’t personally move her in. Asami didn’t mind one bit, as her father was a relatively well-known man in Republic City, and she really didn’t want any extra attention on the first day. Her favorite butler accompanied her to the dorms and helped her unpack a few items before bidding his farewell. Asami was relieved to learn that all the freshman girls received individual dorm rooms. She wasn’t quite ready to share a small room with a total stranger, as she was quite used to having the luxury of the entire Sato Estate to herself.

Now it was time for Asami to join her orientation group. She had been assigned to the “Metal” group and her student advisor was a “Baatar Beifong, Jr.” Asami briefly wondered if this guy was the legendary Toph Beifong’s grandson, but meeting famous people was a part of Asami’s daily life growing up, given her father’s important position, so she was relatively unphased. 

Asami crossed the well-maintained green lawn towards the tables that hosted what looked like welcoming activities and well-positioned information centers for lost freshmen. 

One of the many things Yasuko had passed onto her daughter was her love of beautiful clothing. Asami wore a black turtleneck sweater tucked into high-waisted, well-fitted dark pants, and beige flats. She had a matching light beige trench coat on as well, given the coolness of the autumn day. 

Asami tentatively approached the information table. “Hi, I’m looking for the Metal group?”

A darker-skinned senior boy with light-rimmed glasses looked up and cracked a confident smile. “You’re in the right place! I am Baatar and I’m in charge of the Metal group. What’s your name?”

“Asami Sato.” Baatar scanned his list and checked her name off.

“You can wait right over there with that group. We’ll get started in a minute.”

Asami looked over at the group, an assortment of boys and girls that were clumped in pairs and standing around in a circle. She bit back her nerves. Okay, people her age. She could handle that. How much harder would it be than explaining her design ideas to senior design engineers twice her age and the value proposition of scaling production capacity to investors?

As she approached the group, Asami tried to look for a friendly face. She spotted a pair of twins who were similarly dressed to herself, donning nice trench coats. Maybe these girls could be her friends? 

“Hey,” she said.

Even up close, the girls were practically identical. 

“Hi,” the one with a birthmark on her lower left cheek smiled, but the other looked her up and down silently. “I’m Jasmine Ho, but you can call me Jazz. This is my twin sister Jade.”

“Hi Jazz, hi Jade,” Asami responded, smiling. “Those are beautiful names. I am Asami Sato.”

Jade’s face brightened. “Sato? Are you Hiroshi Sato’s daughter?”

Asami wanted to shrink. She did not want to be known as the daughter of a famous man. She had been looking forward to re-inventing herself and possibly carving her own path. Obtaining an engineering degree from the nation’s most prestigious university did not have to lead her back to Future Industries by any means.

But, she also did not want to lie on her first day at a new place.

“Yes, that’s my father.” 

Jade’s attitude completely turned around, and she jumped to loop her arm around Asami’s. “I am sure we will be fast friends.”

Asami grinned warily. Was this how friends were made? You just introduced yourself and then they announced they were going to be your friend?

In any case, Asami was relieved that the worst was over and she would at least have some buddies for orientation. 

Baatar approached the group. 

“He’s a Beifong.” Jade whispered to Asami in a conspiratorial tone. “You know, of the Beifong family in the Earth Kingdom.” 

Asami’s eyebrows furrowed, as she was unsure of what was so impressive about having a nice last name, but she nodded along. 

“Alright, gather around freshmen! Welcome to your first day of orientation at the University of the United Republic of Nations, some of us call it the UURN but if you’re about to be a real Uurnie, then you call this place that will be your home for the next four years by its favorite nickname, the Academy.” 

Asami nodded along. She had meticulously read through her acceptance letter and new student packet. She had memorized all the fun facts about the Academy already, and she had already tested out of practically all the intro level calculus and physics courses required for her engineering major. This semester, she would be enrolled in a mandatory freshman seminar on the history of the United Republic itself, an elective course on the evolution of the four elements and their influence on technical developments, a mandatory writing course, and a senior engineering course. Her father had personally called the head of the department to have her enrolled in that one because it was not open to freshman students.

Baatar led the group through a few ice breaker exercises and gave them another tour of the campus. One could basically walk from one end of the university’s property to the other end in less than twenty minutes. The campus took up less than ten blocks and three avenues of Republic City’s downtown, and had an open structure where anyone could theoretically walk through the lawns and gardens. The main gates were closed off from average citizens at night. 

After leading the group around the campus, Baatar paused at the front gates.

“Well, this concludes today’s activities. Should you need more guidance during your first few weeks on campus, I am your assigned senior guide, so please reach out if you ever need anything.” Baatar announced. As others began to disperse, he approached Asami, Jazz, and Jade with a sly look on his face.

“Ladies, my fraternity, the Order of the Alloy, is hosting a welcome back party tonight. We usually have a get-together before heading into downtown Republic City. You’re welcome to join us.” 

Jade and Jazz grinned at each other eagerly. “Sure, we’ll see you there.” 

“Great,” Baatar flashed a pearly white smile. “It’s invite-only, by the way. You can tell them Brother Magnesium invited you, and it’ll be in that penthouse.”

Baatar pointed at the most modern-looking building on campus, which Asami remembered from her furious study of the campus map to be senior housing. 

“Magnesium is the most common alloy used in the automotive industry. Its relative cost and strength trade-off make it the perfect material for like, wheel rims,” Asami responded. 

Jazz’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion as Jade shot Asami a dirty look. Baatar pursed his lips, looking at Asami with a bit of surprise, “Well, that’s interesting. Uh, see you all tonight, then!”

As Baatar headed the direction that he had just pointed out to the girls, Jade whirled around and hissed at Asami, “What was that?”

Asami was slightly taken aback. “I was just saying that his codename was interesting, if he goes by Brother Magnesium in some metal-themed fraternity he might want to know this stuff.”

“Asami,” Jazz said gently, “You’re a freshman girl. You have to know that it’s so hard to get invited to parties by popular seniors. Maybe let me and Jade do the talking for now?”

Asami was thoroughly confused by why attending popular parties was a goal of theirs, but seeing as they were the only friends she could make from orientation, she nodded along. 

“Good,” Jade commented. “Now let’s go get ready!”


	2. The Order of the Alloy

It was entirely beyond Asami’s understanding why it took the Ho twins four hours to get ready for a party. 

Asami had been to many parties before - product launches, when Future Industries secured its next round of investor funding, employee birthdays - she never needed this many hours to get ready.

Asami threw on a pair of jeans, white sneakers, and kept the same black turtleneck top that she wore during orientation on. She applied a fresh coat of makeup, and spritzed on some of her favorite lavender perfume. As she waited for Jazz and Jade to finish getting ready in their rooms across the hall, she began to organize her class schedule. She had already done this several times before arriving on campus, but it made Asami feel better when she knew exactly what she had to do and when. 

There was a frantic knock on her door. “E-mer-gen-cy!” One of the twins shrieked. Asami guessed it was Jade. Of the two, Jade seemed to be more high-strung and concerned with status, whereas Jazz shared these values, but was a bit more laidback. 

Asami opened the door to her single room, concerned. 

“Do you have a tube of Madam Mao’s Mascara for thick lashes?” Jade demanded, a fierce look in her gaze. 

“Uh,” Asami stepped back, rummaging through her makeup bag before producing the exact tube Jade was looking for.

A triumphant gleam flashed on Jade’s face before she turned to Asami’s outfit and frowned. “Why aren’t you getting ready?”

Asami smiled awkwardly. Um, she was ready?

Jade marched into Asami’s room and flung open her armoire. “You have really nice clothes. First impressions are important!”

Asami wondered what first impression Jade was trying to make with her plunging V-neck tank top, tight blank jeans, and one-inch heels. 

Jade threw a sheer black top at Asami and pursed her lips. “That will have to do for now. Let’s head out in five.”

Asami picked up the top. It was rather pretty, and she hadn’t worn it before. Shrugging her shoulders, she quickly changed shirts, noticing exactly how much more skin she was now showing. She might disagree with the Ho twins’ priorities, but at least they could connect with fashion. 

The three huddled close as Jazz stood in the middle and linked arms with Asami and Jade. It was a cool autumn evening, but they didn’t want to be burdened with coats, and they weren’t even sure what the layout of a senior penthouse might look like. Despite their earlier bravado about receiving a senior-invite only party invitation, Asami noticed with amusement that the twins seemed a bit nervous. 

Asami thought it was rather endearing actually. How could a senior party be any more nerve-wracking than a contentious board meeting?

As they walked up to the building, they heard loud music blaring from a radio in a brightly lit window on the third floor. 

“That must be it,” Jazz commented, pulling open the entrance door to the building. Asami admired the cool architecture of this building as they gathered into the elevator. 

“You knock,” Jade whispered as they approached the loudest door on the third floor. 

“No, you knock!” Jazz shot back. 

Asami rolled her eyes, lifted the door knocker on the front of the door and gently knocked twice. 

A tall man with shaggy, dark brown hair and playful eyes opened the door. He smirked and said, “Hello ladies, are you lost?” 

“Actually, our senior advisor, Ba-” Jazz began to say. 

“Brother Magnesium invited us,” Asami said with a smooth confidence built from years of getting men twice her age to listen to her.

The host nodded and let the girls enter the apartment. “Welcome, the Order of the Alloy opens wide to those who understand its properties.”

"Wonder how they feel about Baatar," Asami muttered under her breath. "He definitely doesn't understand metal properties."

Jade lightly elbowed Asami, shushing her.

The girls headed towards a table that had different types of drinks laid out. 

“I don’t know why that made me so nervous. He was so attractive,” Jade whispered, pouring a generous serving of a bright pink punch. 

“What’s in that?” Asami asked, sniffing the fruity drink. 

“I don’t care,” Jade replied, taking a large gulp and fanning herself from the stress of getting into this party. 

Jazz poured one for herself and Asami, and they clinked glasses. Asami tentatively sipped the pink liquid, smacking her lips. It wasn’t as strong as the Phoenix Whiskey her father once let her sip, but it definitely wasn’t a ginseng tea. 

Asami turned to survey the scene. The senior apartments were several square meters larger than her own tiny single dorm room. There were a set of stairs that lead to what was likely the bedrooms of the roommates. On the first floor, there was a large living space for socializing, and a generous kitchen and entranceway. The residents of this apartment had pushed the dining table to the corner to hold the drinks and create more space. 

The apartment wasn’t over-crowded, but there were easily thirty people scattered across the space. Asami was relieved Jade suggested the sheer top - any minute she would start sweating. 

“Brother Iron!” A familiar and booming voice called over the crowd. 

Asami turned to face Baatar, who was chatting with a few women in another corner of the room. A tall figure with a strong jawline, serious expression, and chiseled facial structure was descending the stairs. 

“That’s Prince Iroh II of the Fire Nation. He’s known as the king of the school.” Jade whispered.

Asami’s heart skipped a beat. Iroh must have been the most handsome man she had ever laid her eyes on. The man named Iroh cracked a smile in Baatar’s direction.

“Stop trying to make that name happen. I never rushed your fraternity.” Iroh yelled back jokingly. 

Baatar left the girls and sauntered over to his friend. Asami could hear their conversation out of earshot.

“Never too late,” Baatar commented, handing Iroh a drink.

“It’s really not a good idea to align with a bending-affiliated brotherhood when you have ties to a specific nation, as I’ve said many times, and one that is most definitely not related to metalbending,” Iroh sipped his drink, and made a face. “Dude, I told you jasmine tea.”

“Don’t be a princess,” Baatar responded. “Speaking of, where’s Suji?”

Iroh frowned, shrugged his shoulders, and downed more of his drink.

Jazz whistled under her breath. “That man is fine.”

Asami giggled, feeling the effects of the bubbly pink drink. “He would pass any QA test.”

“What did you say?” Jazz asked, raising her voice over the blaring radio. 

“I said-” Asami turned back to face her friends, but noticed their attentions were already occupied by another boy who had approached them and began chatting with them. 

Asami wondered how the radio could be so loud and began to track down the source of the music. The radio was a classic model of the time with its large brown exterior. She observed a cone speaker attached to the audio output and smiled to herself. That was how they could make the music louder!

“Thanks for coming,” Baatar appeared by Asami’s side.

“Thanks for the invite,” Asami smiled back, tossing her long black hair over her shoulder. Baatar’s eyes trailed down her shoulder, which was bare except for the sheer layer of fabric covering it. “This is a neat radio. I’m amazed by the decibels this thing can reach-”

Baatar took a swig of his drink and threw an arm around Asami. 

“Asami, word of advice?” 

Asami eyed his heavy arm warily and nodded.

“You seem like a smart girl,” he noted, locking eyes with her. “But we’re at a party! Loosen up!”

Asami pursed her lips. Outwardly, she flashed a sweet smile, but inwardly, she cringed.

There was nothing more she hated than a man telling her how to feel, look, or act. One of her earliest and only memories of her mother Yasuko surfaced then. 

Asami was sitting in front of her mother’s large mirror as Yasuko combed her hair into braids. 

“Asami-chan,” Yasuko said soothingly, brushing her fingers through Asami’s beautiful glossy hair. “You are a little genius, did you know that?”

Five-year-old Asami nodded eagerly, hanging onto her mother’s every word.

“Life is hard when you’re this smart. Some of the other girls won’t understand you, because they will have been taught by their parents that their place in society is only to marry rich. Some of the men might be afraid of you, because you’ll be even smarter than them.”

Asami nodded, for she had a deep maturity for her age. “What do I do, Mama?”

“Don’t hold back your talents from the world for anyone,” Yasuko had replied, kissing Asami on the cheek then tickling her until the little girl giggled. 

Asami lifted Baatar’s hand off of her shoulder. 

“Appreciate the advice, Brother Magnesium,” Asami retorted sarcastically, dropping his arm carelessly and stalking off.

Iroh approached Baatar, looking at the back of Asami’s figure disappearing into the crowd. “What did you say to her?”

Baatar shrugged his shoulders. “That girl has too many opinions.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Iroh asked, confused. 

“Dude,” Baatar began, clasping his hand on Iroh’s shoulder before dropping his head and sighing. “Let’s just say good thing you’ve been with Suji all these years because you, my friend, are absolutely hopeless. Where is that chick, anyway?”

Iroh shrugged. “You’ve asked already.” 

“Trouble in paradise?” Baatar grinned conspiratorially. Iroh’s expression hardened, but he made no comment.


	3. The Senior Seminar

Iroh noticed her right away. 

She had an elegant aura, a beautiful face framed by gorgeous, glossy jet black hair, and a concentrated look on her face as she searched for an empty seat. She wore a blue jean skirt that showed off her smooth, long legs.

Baatar whistled, “Sato! Over here!”

Asami glanced to Iroh’s right, where Baatar was perched with his legs propped up on the third row of the amphitheater-styled lecture hall. He was pointing to an empty seat to his right. Asami took one look at Baatar, scoffed, and plotted firmly down in the first row. 

“Fuck, who is that?” Ling, an Earth Kingdom elite who was close with Baatar, sat to Iroh’s left. 

“My favorite little freshman,” Baatar commented, making a slight slurping sound. 

“You’re sick,” Iroh commented, leafing through his notebook as the senior guys around him howled in laughter. 

“You’re a fucking prude,” Baatar retorted back, grinning. 

“Damn, she’s a freshman?” Ling sat back in his seat, impressed. “This is a senior capstone course for serious engineer majors. How’d she swing that?”

“Yeah, she’s got hella brains. She was in my orientation group, so I read her forms. I mean, she’s Hiroshi Sato’s daughter, so no surprise there, but she’s also really fucking hot, so I’m willing to look past the whole brains bit,” Baatar analyzed, having seized the attention of the men sitting around him.

Iroh privately agreed that Asami was beautiful, but more than anything, he was vastly impressed that she had secured a spot in a senior course. In fact, she was probably going to be the only female in the whole lecture hall. 

His girlfriend Suji could care less about the inner workings of machinery or the technical components of Iroh’s studies. In fact, lately, Suji had been obsessing over Fire Nation wedding trends and dropping hints about moving in together after graduation. 

Iroh was feeling more and more trapped in this relationship. He had been seeing Suji for nearly two and a half years now, though they had temporarily broken up when Iroh had to return to the Fire Nation for his mandatory year of service in the military. Since they had met when Iroh was a sophomore and Suji was a freshman, this effectively allowed Suji to be the same grade as Iroh. Most of Iroh’s true friends had graduated during the year Iroh completed his service, so he was stuck with some distant friends like Baatar who had inconveniently attached themselves to Iroh.

Suji came from a well-off Fire Nation family that had moved to Republic City as a result of their family’s business expanding. Iroh liked that they shared some cultural values, and in the beginning, it was easy to fall in step with someone who was familiar to his home country. Studying in Republic City was the first time Iroh had been away from the Fire Nation, at the insistence of his grandfather, former Firelord Zuko, who believed that the most balanced education would be a worldly one.

Iroh wondered if Asami would care about the latest trends within the Fire Nation. In a lot of ways, she resembled a classic Fire Nation beauty like Suji - pale skin, long black hair, and highly graceful. 

“Sato!” Baatar called down to Asami. She turned around with a steely gaze. “Lunch after class?”

“Sorry,” Asami retorted immediately. “I’ve got another class.” On cue, the men sitting around Iroh booed. 

Damn, were those green eyes? Fire Nation looks but emerald eyes. Interesting, Iroh thought.

Wait, why was he comparing this random girl to his longtime girlfriend?

Iroh shook his head, trying to clear his mind. 

To say that his and Suji’s relationship was on the rocks would offend any earthbender - they were way past that. In fact, Iroh was hesitant to get back with her after his year abroad finishing his mandatory military service. 

He remembered the last conversation they had had in person at the end of the previous school year, as he was departing to return to the Fire Nation and Suji was staying in Republic City for the summer for her internship. 

“So, I guess I won’t be seeing you for a year,” Iroh had said one night in her dorm room as they lay in her bed. Suji was gently caressing his bare back but suddenly pushed herself up, her straight obsidian hair falling in front of her chest like a waterfall. 

“What do you mean, one year?” She had demanded. 

“Well, as I mentioned before, I’m taking a year off to complete my one year mandatory military service for the Fire Na-”

“Fuck the Fire Nation,” Suji crossed her arms, looking out the window. Iroh sat up, trying to wrap his arms around her to comfort her. “You’re a prince. You shouldn’t have to be subject to archaic traditions.”

Iroh pulled back.

“What do you mean, archaic? Tradition and culture are vital to the Fire Nation.” 

“You’re only second-in-line. Why bother with tradition?” 

Iroh promptly rolled out of bed, looking around the floor for his T-shirt. He located it and quickly began to dress himself.

“Hey, where are you going?” Suji asked, anger lacing her tone.

“Why are you with someone who’s only second then?” Iroh had retorted angrily. How many times had he heard this from Fire Nation advisors, sometimes even absentmindedly from his own mother? 

Second to Lu Ten, not important enough in the royal family. Just a backup. Only there in case anything happened to his perfect, precious older brother, the heir to a Fire Nation legacy. 

Only Zuko ever paid Iroh any real attention, stepping in when Izumi lost her husband in a fatal accident at sea when Iroh was only three.

The next morning after their argument, Iroh and Suji met at their go-to tea shop at the corner of 17th and Appa Ave, right outside the main campus.

“I said some things that I’m not proud of,” Suji began, sitting across from Iroh. She looked perfect as always. Her hair was pulled into a sleek ponytail, and dark kohl outlined her large, amber eyes. She wore a leather jacket and jeans, and sat with perfect posture. 

“Thanks,” Iroh replied. He had spent the night contemplating why he had spent the last two years with someone who didn’t appreciate his worth. 

“I just-” she began, “I didn’t know it would be one year, without physically seeing each other. I thought, maybe you’d have breaks. Maybe as a prince you’d be able to-”

“Suji, it’s a military service. I can’t get special treatment. Think of the example it would set for the citizens.”

Suji frowned, her hands wrapped firmly around her tea mug. “Iroh, I can’t be with you if I can’t see you.”

Hearing the words come from Suji’s mouth had hurt more than Iroh had expected. Suji had been his first practically everything, even if they weren’t a perfect fit. They had spent nights together, explored the campus and the city together, and bonded over their shared Fire Nation culture.

Then, it was radio silence for a year. Iroh somberly returned to the Fire Nation, threw himself into his military training and service exercises. He aced everything, moving to the top of his training class by the end of the year and receiving top marks in every exercise.

“Kid, you ever consider the United Forces? Could use talent like you,” a UF visiting lieutenant once casually remarked, likely unaware that Iroh was a prince.

After completing his service, Iroh had planned to spend the summer before his senior year at the Academy at the Fire Nation palace. Lu Ten and his wife Zaia had just had a child, and Iroh was excited to be an uncle. After a few weeks of everyone doting on the happy family, Iroh realized again that he felt that he just didn’t have a place here, in his own family’s home. 

He returned to Republic City early, claiming to his mother that he needed to focus on catching up on schoolwork given that he had spent the past year away.

Iroh had planned to have a quiet summer, but Suji somehow discovered his early return and showed up at his doorstep one night, looking distraught and regretful.

“Losing you was the biggest mistake of my life,” she had said through tears on the second night Iroh had returned to Republic City.

Feeling unsure of himself, Iroh had allowed her back into his life. He had been isolated from broader society during his year of service, and spent the last few weeks being overlooked again by his family. His body craved comfort and support, and here was the one person who at least knew him.

That had been nearly two months ago. Sweet Suji was back to her old ways, constantly trying to provoke Iroh just to get his attention. It irritated Iroh beyond belief.

Privately, Iroh wondered if a girl like Asami would ever do that.


	4. A Call for Equality

“Hey! You’re a non-bender right?” 

Asami looked up from her seat in the library. She had her textbooks scattered across the table as she furiously scribbled notes on her graph paper. 

A skinny sophomore passed her a flyer with a symbol that Asami recognized meant “equal” in their ancient script. 

“What is this?” Asami whispered curiously. 

“Tonight, eight pm in the basement of the senior housing building. Find out.” 

Asami shoved the paper into her textbook and resumed her studies. 

The fall semester was flying by, and Asami was proud of the grades she was pulling with her coursework and with finals quickly approaching. She already knew everything the professor was teaching in her United Republic history class, having learned and memorized the content years ago. She found the elemental influence on technological development course fascinating as well. Asami was acing her writing course, and even in her most challenging class, the senior capstone, she often found herself obtaining the highest test scores.

For the most part, Baatar had given up on his predatory pursuit of her, to Asami’s relief. She could now attend the senior engineering course completely unbothered. 

Asami noticed that every time she learned something new, she caught herself making mental notes about how she would use that knowledge to improve something back at Future Industries.

Hiroshi popped by at least once a month to share a meal with Asami at a local restaurant. She cherished these meals, but found that her father was becoming more and more distracted. Was the stress of work finally cracking him? Future Industries was larger than ever, and Asami knew that he must be under intense pressure.

Maybe joining Future Industries to help her father out after graduation wouldn’t be so bad after all. Maybe her old man could retire.

After a few more hours of studying, Asami rubbed her eyes and began to gather her notes into her bag. Jade and Jazz no doubt were getting ready for another night on the town, given that it was a Friday, but Asami was in no mood to join them for a third consecutive weekend in a row. Making friends was definitely the most challenging part of student life. Asami found that people clumped together from orientation, and quickly formed exclusive groups. 

She guessed much of the student body assumed that she was with the Ho twins and therefore was not interested in making other friends. Well, if all girls her age were like Jade and Jazz, Asami was certain having two in her life was more than enough for now.

As she strapped her backpack together and slung it over her shoulder, the piece of paper with the “equal” character fell onto the ground. Asami bent down to retrieve it, and pursed her lips. 

Was this another one of the dumb secret societies that the Academy seemed to be teeming with? Asami found the Order of the Alloy silly enough (she nearly burst out laughing when she discovered there were other bending-themed fraternities, like the Order of the Inferno). 

It was interesting that the boy who handed her this flyer asked if she was a non-bender. Asami and her parents were not benders, but she didn’t think of being a “non-bender” as part of her identity. Asami never felt limited. In fact, with the advancement of technology, she found that bending was actually not as vital or important as it once was.

Out of curiosity, she ventured towards the senior building. Maybe it was better she didn’t return to her dorm room so early, in case the twins were still around and somehow pestered Asami into joining them for a night out.

She pulled open the side door and entered a dimly lit room. She recognized the skinny boy from the library standing in a corner of the room, chatting animatedly with a few others, so she knew she was in the right place. Asami stood off to the side, waiting for the event to start.

A junior girl stood at the podium. She wore thick, circular glasses and a green turtleneck sweater. Everyone began to take seats, so Asami followed. 

“Welcome, comrades and friends of comrades. You may be wondering what this organization is, or you may already know. We are coming together because a revolution is brewing. People are angry. For too long, benders have oppressed non-benders, and this is a sacred space that we can share our experiences and think about how we can protest for change. Would any of my brothers or sisters like to take the stage?” 

Asami’s mind spun. Anti-bending sentiment? She supposed that she herself never felt disadvantaged for being a non-bender, but she recognized that that came with the privilege of being the daughter of an industry titan. 

Another guy took the stage, and the girl with the glasses stepped aside. 

“Hey everyone, thanks for coming out,” he started. “I’m not really sure where to start. My father is a shop owner down on Firelily Street, and every other week, the Triple Threat Triad comes around asking for protection fees. In reality, they physically threaten my father with their bending abilities and extort him with exorbitant fees. It’s so fucking frustrating that I can’t fight back, and there’s nothing I can do to help.”

Asami frowned. Fight back? Shouldn’t they turn to the Republic City Police Department for help with gang-related activity? Did this boy really blame all benders for the corruption of a handful?

A few other students took the stage and shared stories about bullying that they had faced at the hands of benders, and even physical disadvantages in certain activities.

One person stood up and said they lost their aunt in an earthbending accident.

Asami began to feel really stuffy and hot. She got up to leave, gasping when she exited the basement, taking deep breaths of the cool night air. She leaned against the building, her hand over her heart as she caught her breath. 

Losing someone to a bending accident.

She thought of her mother Yasuko. Asami had been young when a firebender broke into their estate and murdered her mother, but she had been mature enough to understand the tragedy of the event. She was old enough to remember how it felt to have someone you loved so deeply, with every fiber of your being, taken away from you. Someone who was your pillar, who said they would be there no matter what.

And now they were gone.

Asami’s hands were on her knees, her head down as she gasped for air. She tried to count to ten slowly, trying to calm herself down.

“You’re okay,” she breathed. “You’re okay.”

The people in that room weren’t just sharing horrible experiences with benders.

They were full of hatred and resentment, and they were feeding off of each other’s feelings, building momentum with a scary mob mentality. Asami detested that feeling of losing control over your emotions because of the people around you. She thought what was happening in that room was downright dangerous.

Sure, benders certainly had their advantages, but as technology advanced, what couldn’t be done by a non-bender too?

These people were allowing their anger to consume themselves rather than be productive members of society. So you hated benders. What were you going to do? Eradicate a natural occurrence that has been around for hundreds of years? 

As an engineer, Asami understood balance. And the world needed to be in balance. That was the whole point of having an Avatar.

Asami heard footsteps approaching the senior building’s entrance. She didn’t want to be caught or to have a conversation in the unlikely event that she actually knew the senior entering the building. She quickly scurried around the corner, hiding behind the wall.

“So what? You couldn’t get enough of fighting men and running around saving people from shit in the Fire Nation military, now you want to run off to the United Forces?” An angry female voice was chastising.

Oh no, a private conversation, Asami panicked. She wanted to get out of there!

“I’m not running off anywhere. Training for the UF starts right here in Republic City, and then we get assigned to given deployments-”

“Assigned? You could be fucking assigned anywhere.” Suji hissed.

“This isn’t going to happen for at least a year. Why do we have to jump to irrational conclusions prematurely-”

“Did you just call me crazy?”

“No, Suji, I would never-”

“I can’t believe you!”

Asami cringed. She had been privately wondering why a man like Iroh was with a woman like Suji. They were known as the king and queen of the school. Everyone loved to gossip about this couple. Asami probably knew more about them than she ever cared to, and she didn’t even seek out the information. Jade consistently chattered about the latest developments in the pair’s relationship. Because of her, Asami was aware exactly what trends Suji was trying to set with her clothes, and what cafes the couple liked to frequent.

Suji was practically every elite girl’s cookie cutter goal. Beautiful, and dating a powerful man.

Asami, too, had fallen for Iroh’s charm, just like every other girl on campus. Privately, she was amused with herself. She was excelling in her courses, cared way too much about her extracurricular mechanical projects, and obsessively followed the automotive industry. But sometimes, she was also just a girl. While the Ho twins could confuse and irritate Asami, the engineering major actually found that she enjoyed getting all dolled up with them sometimes. And, like all the girls, she too had her fantasies about the handsome, elusive prince.

Why was he always surrounded by Baatar and the Alloy Brothers, but looking lost in a book, or separated from the group? When he was walking with Suji, why did he always look so pensive, like he was blocking out her chatter?

Why was the smartest girl on campus also smitten with this man?!


End file.
